Radio Kontakt Plus reported that on Friday a group of female journalists held a debate in which they have discussed the joint Declaration that they have recently adopted.

RTK editor-in-chief for community programs, Rabisha Muhaxhiri, Radio Mitrovica North Ivana Vanovac, and the correspondent of German WDR radio Violeta Oroshi attended the debate among other journalists who participated in the final draft of the declaration.

Seventeen reporters from Kosovo, coming from different communities, have gathered in Budva recently, where they created a declaration that represents a common value system, with an emphasis on the position of women in the media in this region and a series of proposals for improvement of journalism as a profession. The declaration was presented in Pristina last month, and on Friday it was presented in North Mitrovica.

Rabisha Muhaxhiri, pointed out that the problem related to the lack of knowledge of languages of other ethnic groups should be seriously addressed, because at times it creates problems for journalists, especially the younger ones, in performing their jobs.
Muhaxhiri expressed hope that no one will understand this declaration as a feminist approach, but, on the contrary, that it would break down all the stereotypes that people in Kosovo still have, which affect the daily work of media.

Ivana Vanovac said any emphasis/mentions of the position of journalists was good, especially if the journalist is a woman, and that the topic can never be redundant. For Vanovac, the intro of the declaration was the most important, which she saw as a journalism cry.

She highlighted the availability of information and the treatment that journalists receive from institutions as the key issues, along with the segment of security, which is also highlighted in the declaration. She opined that an attack on a journalist should be treated as an attack on an official person.

Violeta Oroshi said that both Kosovo and Serbian media face a harsher rhetoric of politicians from both sides, adding that in her view, the rhetoric that was used in the past was returning.

“Fortunately, we live in a multi-ethnic society, but what is happening now with politicians, with their statements which are sometimes scandalous, primitive ... they remind me of the ‘90s. That rhetoric is coming back. I think that we need to be extremely careful of, how and in what way to deal with it”.

She pointed out to a well-known practice of Albanian media in Kosovo reporting about the Serbs only when something bad happens, and vice versa.

“We are not aware of how the media are damaging their community and its security by unverified information,” Oroshi said.

The declaration is part of the project “Women in the Media”, which is supported by UNMIK, and implemented by the “Centre for Community Development” from North Mitrovica.